Constitution Review Will Address Gender imbalance- Kalu
The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, assured women in Nigeria that the ongoing Constitution review by the 10th National Assembly will address all issues of gender imbalance being experienced in the country.
Kalu, who is also chairman of the House Committee on Constitution Review, gave the assurance in Abuja while addressing participants at the ongoing Roundtable on Women Inclusion in Politics organised by Policy Legal and Advocacy Centre (PLAC), Yiaga Africa, Nigeria Women Trust Fund, and ElectHer, with the support of the European Union.
While observing the poor participation of women in the nation’s politics, the lawmaker said countries like Rwanda had implemented a constitutional provision mandating at least 30% of parliamentary seats to be reserved for women, with women now holding an unparalleled 61.3% of seats in the lower House of Parliament in Rwanda.
“What the best performing African countries regarding female representation have in common is the adoption of electoral quotas for women; a system that is not present in the nations at the bottom of the ranking. Unfortunately, Nigeria happens to be one of them. The last position is Nigeria, with only 4 percent of women holding seats in the House of Representatives, and 3.6 percent in the Senate. That is sad.”
He suggested that seat reservation and the adoption of electoral quotas for women would greatly increase Nigeria’s ranking among the Commonwealth of Nations.
He, however, said that with the ongoing constitution review exercise and the ‘body language’ of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the inclusion of Nigerian women in politics will be achieved, as he is a president who admires women’s contributions a lot.
Kalu maintained that “comprehensive gender equality requires a multifaceted approach that addresses deeply rooted barriers including discriminatory laws and practices, cultural biases, patriarchal attitudes, entrenched gender stereotypes, and unequal access to resources and opportunities, which are formidable challenges that demand our collective attention.”.
In their separate remarks, Senate Committee on Women Affairs Ireti Kingibe, House Committee on Women in Parliament Hon Fatima Talba Majority Leader House of Representatives Hon Julius Ihonvbere, agreed that women’s contribution to nation-building can not be over-emphasized as they are more thorough, unbiased, look beyond themselves, and are selfless. “Women are better managers,” they stressed.
The two-day program, with the theme: Women’s Underrepresentation: Exploring the Use of Temporary Special Measures to Elect Women in Parliaments, was meant to commemorate this year’s International Women’s Day.
